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prefects are limited to four bearers. The number of equerries is in each case, of course, regulated by rank. The procession is headed by lictors, who carry, some whips, and others chains, in their hands, and by men provided with gongs. At intervals the latter beat their gongs loudly, to announce the near approach of the great man who is passing through the city. The lictors also, at frequent intervals, and especially when passing through the gates of a city, call out, "Let all men keep silence." The busy hum which arises from the crowded mart is accordingly succeeded, for the time being, by a deathlike stillness. The custom reminds one of a similar practice in ancient Egypt. In the history of Joseph we read (Gen. xli. 43) that when Pharaoh had exalted that remarkable man to rule as a viceroy over the people of Egypt, a herald went before him as he passed along the crowded streets, and cried aloud, "Bow the knee." In the procession which accompanies an officer of the fifth, sixth, or seventh rank, when he passes in his sedan-chair through the streets of a city, there are borne one blue silk umbrella, one fan, two white rods of office, two wooden boards on which in gold are the characters Shuk and Tsing, and four banners. The procession is headed by two lictors. Officers of the eighth and ninth ranks are entitled to one umbrella, and two rods of office. The procession is headed by two lictors, each of whom carries in his hand a bamboo rod.

A military officer of the first rank has for his insignia, two umbrellas; two fans; two banners on each of which are figures of tigers with wings; two staves each of which is surmounted with a clenched fist; two swords, the hilt of each of which is ornamented with the head of an animal in brass; two swords, each of which resembles in form the feather of a wild goose; two red boards on which in gold are the characters Shuk and Tsing; four spears, and eight green banners, to the top of each of which a streamer is attached. The procession is headed by two lictors, each of whom carries in his hand a bamboo, and by two gongmen. A military officer of the second rank and of the class Ching, has two battle-axes instead of the staves with the clenched fist; and he is not entitled to display the two swords which are shaped like the feather of a wild goose. The number of spears

is also reduced to two in this procession. Similar points of difference mark other gradations of military rank. The state sedan-chair of each military officer is preceded and followed by equerries and pedestrians, varying in number.

It is worthy of remark that the practice of carrying fans in official processions, as insignia of honour and power, is of great antiquity, and in early ages the custom was not confined to China alone. On the monuments of ancient Egypt are to be found representations of fans carried on the tops of long poles, just as to-day in China, before the mighty of the land.

There is little to be said about the retinue which accompanies the sedan-chairs of private individuals. A private gentleman or wealthy citizen is borne in his chair by four or two men, and is followed by four or two livery servants on foot; and his wife is borne in a chair by four or two men, and is followed by two or one female servant on foot.

The style and furnishing of sedan-chairs is also regulated by the sumptuary laws of China. The state sedan-chair of an official, whether civil or military, of all ranks, must be covered with green cloth. The fringe which is made to skirt the outside of the roof of the chair, and the curtains for the windows, must also be green. For the first three ranks, the ends of the poles or shafts may be tipped with brass moulded in the form of dragons' heads. For the fourth and fifth ranks, the ends of the poles may be tipped with brass moulded in the form of lions' heads. The ends of the poles of the sedan-chair of an official of any of the four remaining ranks, may be tipped with brass on which is engraven in relief representations of the clouds. On the top of each of the chairs in question is to be fixed a globe or ball of block tin. Blue cloth is to be used for the chair of a private gentleman, and the ends of the poles must be tipped with plain ferules of brass. Sedan-chairs, used by persons in the humbler walks of life, must be covered with cloth of a dark colour, and the ends of the poles or shafts perfectly plain.

In all Chinese cities there are public sedan-chair stands, at which chairs are let out on hire by the hour or day. In some parts of the empire, the proprietors have to pay a tax. I found this

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STATE UMBRELLAS.

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to be the case in Nankin and Hang-chow, but it is certainly not so in the southern cities of China with which I am acquainted. Upon each taxed sedan-chair the name of the proprietor, and of the street in which he resides is painted in large Chinese characters. At Nankin, aged and infirm persons in the lower walks of life are borne from place to place in baskets, and at Eching I saw a respectable youth of twelve years of age being conveyed in this manner. Of the style and form of carts or carriages, a description will be found in another chapter. I may say here that the wheels of a cart or carriage of a man of rank, are placed not under the centre of, but at the extreme end of the cart. On the sedan-chairs and carts used by officials and people, there may not be painted or embroidered figures of dragons, or phoenixes, or indeed, representations of any imperial emblems.

This chapter would be incomplete without some special notice of state umbrellas. These are a conspicuous feature of Chinese processions. On the top of a state umbrella of a gentleman of the first or second rank must be the figure of a gourd, made of block tin. For the third and fourth ranks, the gourd must be made of wood and painted red. An official or gentleman of the fifth rank, displays a blue cloth umbrella with a gourd made of wood and painted red. In the case of the first four ranks, the umbrella must have three flounces; those who are of lower rank being only entitled to two flounces. It is interesting to observe that in other Eastern countries the umbrella has also its place among the insignia of high rank. It was, and is still, if I mistake not, one of the emblems of royalty and power throughout India, Persia, Arabia and other Asiatic countries, and in that portion of the great continent of Africa which is inhabited by the followers of the false prophet of Mecca. At the time Rome was giving laws to the world, it was used by the sovereigns of Egypt, since Mark Antony is censured for having united the eagles of Rome with the state umbrellas of the unfortunate Cleopatra.

The masses are not allowed to use silk or cloth umbrellas only those made of oil paper. In this, as well as in other respects

the sumptuary laws are disregarded, for it is not at all unusual to meet people in the streets of a Chinese city carrying either silk or cloth umbrellas. Red silk umbrellas are occasionally presented by the people to distinguished officials.

From unbrellas to walking-sticks is a much greater transition in China than in our own country; but this has not prevented sumptuary legislators dealing with them. According to some Chinese authors, they were first used as far back as 2357 B.C., and, according to others, were introduced during the reign of Woo-wing of the Chow dynasty, who flourished 1122 B.C. That walking-sticks were used during the reign of Woo-wing, appears from a reference made to a prince named Chow-Koong, who used one in punishing an act of rudeness on the part of his son. During that period the use of walking-sticks was common to all classes of society. For some reason, however, their use was eventually restricted to men who were fifty years of age and upwards. The law, however, was very arbitrary, and prohibited men who were between fifty and sixty years of age from using their walkingsticks except when walking on their own premises! Those who were between sixty and seventy years of age were allowed to use them when walking through the towns and villages in which they resided, and only those upwards of eighty were at liberty to use them wherever they went. During the after-Liang dynasty, A.D. 903, a law which allowed all aged and infirm persons to use walking-sticks was established. I may remark, in conclusion, that precepts not dissimilar to some contained in the code of sumptuary laws framed by Zaleucus, the famous legislator of Locris, are at this very time observed in China. For example, it is enacted that no respectable spinster of the lower orders of society shall wear apparel similar to that which is worn by ladies of rank and fashion. Those, however, who are not respectable may do so, as in Locris a ruffian might wear the gold ring which was denied to the honest man; and in China all prostitutes who reside in cities and towns, wear gold bracelets and embroidered dresses, and paint their faces, like virtuous women of the upper classes.

CHAPTER XVI.

AMUSEMENTS AND SPORTS.

THE Chinese appear to appreciate the drama quite as much as the more civilized nations of Europe. Their dramatic entertainments appear to be connected in many instances with their idolatrous worship, and in front of the principal temples there are permanent stages upon which the plays are performed at festivals. It is not unusual for sick persons to vow in the presence of certain idols that, should their lives be spared, they will give dramatic entertainments in honour of these deities. To such entertainments the people are of course admitted gratuitously; but no seats are provided for them. There are societies or companies, however, who hire actors and give theatrical representations both to amuse the masses and to make money. Each society must include one or two persons who have taken literary degrees, and each is held responsible for the peace and good order of the spectators. Stage plays are generally acted in large tents, as among the ancient Romans. These tents, made of large bamboo frames covered with matting, are in the form of squares. Three sides of the square are occupied by rows of benches for the spectators. Behind these, immediately in front of the stage, there is a gallery for ladies. There are different classes of seats, and the prices of admission vary accordingly, some of the benches having a rest for the back, and others having none. As theatres are made of bamboo or matting, there is great danger from the displays of firecrackers, which sometimes take place during a performance,